Christal Sheppard has joined the staff of Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) as legislative assistant for his Financial Services Committee work.

A graduate of the University of Delaware, Sheppard earned a bachelor’s in biology in 1991. Not having satisfied her desire to learn about the building blocks of life, Sheppard went on to receive her doctorate in cellular molecular biology from the University of Michigan in 1998. In 2001, she received a law degree from Cornell University and then arrived in Washington, D.C., to start work at the law firm Foley & Lardner.

Sheppard is from Upper Marlboro, Md.

Golden Gang. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) welcomes a duo of staffers.

Glenn Giokaris is the new legislative correspondent and staff assistant. He will also cover education, environment, small business and space issues for the Congressman.

Hailing from Whittier, Calif., Giokaris graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s in history. The globally minded Giokaris then spent a year in Africa working as a program officer for a micro-finance organization.

After a two-year stint in the financial institutions investment group at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. in New York, Jeremiah Norton has joined the office as legislative assistant, responsible for Financial Services Committee, agriculture, labor, postal operations, labor, veterans and welfare issues.

Norton holds a bachelor’s in economics from Duke University.

Tancredo’s Talents. Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo (R) recently welcomed one new staffer and promoted another.

Rikki Horton arrives in the office as legislative assistant in charge of Immigration Reform Caucus, International Relations Committee and judiciary issues, among others.

Horton, an alumna of Rep. Virgil Goode’s (R-Va.) office, previously served as staff assistant, legislative assistant and scheduler for the Old Dominion Congressman.

The 24-year-old, from Martinsville, Va., earned a 2000 bachelor’s in government and politics with a minor in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Meanwhile, Adam Samuel Roth moves up a notch to systems administrator and staff assistant. He earlier worked as constituent advocate in Tancredo’s Littleton, Colo., office.

An airman in the Navy Reserve, Roth has lived in three states and London since graduating from high school.

The 26-year-old holds a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in computer information systems from Colorado State University.

The former Barnes & Noble bookseller has also served as chairman of the Colorado Federation of Young Republicans and worked as a software consultant and systems engineer.